


Lead and Follow

by Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw



Series: February Ficlet Challenge 2019 [18]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Ballroom Dancing, F/M, Gen, Gender Roles, Other, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-31 03:56:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17841992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw/pseuds/Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw
Summary: Ace wants to learn how to dance, that's all.  Nothing is ever that easy with the Doctor...Pairing: Seventh Doctor/Ace McShanePrompt: DancingBeta by imaginary_golux





	Lead and Follow

So absorbed in his book was the Doctor that he barely noticed the entrance of his young companion. At least that was the impression he preferred to give off. He finished his paragraph and jumped up in a not-quite-convincing simulation of surprise. “Ace! What can I do for you?”

“Iwannalearnhowtadance,” she mumbled, and even he had to replay her hurried words, slowed down in his mind, before he could understand them. 

“Mmm, and what sort of dancing did you have in mind?” He set his book down to give her another moment to prepare her answer.

“Something stately. Classy.” She shrugged. “I’d like to be more than just an angry teenager someday.”

“You already are,” the Doctor corrected quietly. Almost before he had realized, he had closed the distance between them, taking her hand. Pulse...slightly elevated, he noted. “I find it easier to lead and teach, but would you ultimately prefer to lead or follow? I can dance either.”

Her forehead creased. “Wouldn’t that be weird for you? Dancing the girl’s part?”

He turned away from her, walking away toward the nearest ballroom, his head half-turned to address her as she trailed after him. “My people are...rather more flexible about gender than yours. We...change, many times over the course of our lives. That includes every aspect of our physical presentation.” 

“Oh.” He recognized the look that crossed her face; he had seen it so many times over his hundreds of years. The look of a human realizing just how inhuman he really was, the shape of his skin notwithstanding. He hated that look; he usually hated that look, he amended. Present company’s face held a note of something more than the lizard-brain fear, more than the prurient curiosity. A dawning light, a little wonder; a sense of invisible possibilities stepping into the light. He smiled. He loved that look, loved being the one to show his friends just how vast the universe could be.

“Ace,” he whispered, drawing her gently out of her reverie, “Shall we dance?” he asked, and offered his hand in invitation as the music began to play.

**Author's Note:**

> I deliberately left vague how exactly Ace views herself in terms of gender role/gender identity; if nothing else, I think she's only just starting to think about her options in this story.


End file.
